According to the study, Hawaii immunization rates for the human papilloma virus or HPV are lagging.

Only 34 percent of females and 15 percent of males have been fully immunized, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC says 80 percent of women will contract HPV at some point in their lifetime and the disease is the most common cancer-causing virus in the world.

“The vaccine is a vaccine that just not to prevent you from being sick for two or three days. It’s a vaccine that will prevent you from having cancer. Cancer is something that we really do not want to have,” said University of Hawaii professor Dr. Raul Rudoy.

Doctors urge that children get vaccinated when they’re 11 or 12 years old. Three shots are needed over a six-month period for full protection.